Shamrocks’ slide continues

October 20, 2012

NEW MARTINSVILLE - It didn't take long for Magnolia to score - a 49-yard run by Kage Rohde on the Blue Eagles' first play after a three-and-out by Barnesville.

Needless to say, the Shamrocks had their hands full even before the weather got in their way.

Magnolia was about as efficient as a coach would want, scoring on six of their eight possessions in the first half (one was a kneel down), committed no penalties, and made Barnesville pay for every mistake it made in a 46-6 thumping at Alumni Field.

''Coming off a week off, you never know what to expect but I thought our guys were focused, executed well, played well and took advantage of some of the turnovers and the mistakes,'' Magnolia coach Mark Batton said. ''(No penalties), that is unusual for us. We are usually good for about 100 yards a game. It was a total team effort.

''I was real tickled with our offensive line. They blocked superb. Then you have (Kage) Rohde and (Drew) Keller running hard, it was a nice win.''

Just how dominant was Magnolia?

The Blue Eagles outrushed the Shamrocks, 283-1. They won the first down battle, 17-1.

Rohde rushed for 109 yards and four touchdowns - he also caught a 9-yard strike from quarterback Tanner Hanna - while Keller carried 15 times for 86 yards and a score. Zach Arrick scored from 1 yard out on his only carry.

While Barnesville had trouble getting any pressure on Magnolia - the Blue Eagles had just one play in negative yardage while the starters were in - it really had no one to blame but itself.

The Shamrocks fumbled seven times, losing five of them. Of those turnovers included a failed hook and lateral and a kickoff that was left alone by the returner who didn't realize it was a live ball.

They also had a punt that netted 1 yard and a roughing the punter penalty that gave the ball back to the Blue Eagles on one of their rare stops.

Trailing 39-0 entering the second half, the Shamrocks barely had a chance to even attempt a rally as it ran just four offensive plays. One did result in Barnesville's only score, an 85-yard pass from Kyle McIntire to a wide-open Jacob Anderson.

''We are beat up and real young so it's been hard to move people around and still be competitive,'' Barnesville coach Matt Johnson said.

''We tried to put in some gadget plays this week and we were inches away from converting them, but things happen and we can't play inside our 20 all game.

''You have to overcome it and we just didn't. Magnolia comes from everywhere. They get every lane covered and they just overwhelmed us.''